Florida
Florida Tech Panthers Hires Melissa Wieand as Associate Athletic Trainer – Space Coast Daily
spent time with Green Bay packers, LA Chargers
Wieand comes to Florida Tech after working for the Green Bay Packers as a Fellow Athletic Trainer since 2023.
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine and Performance Luis Velez has announced the hiring of Melissa Wieand as Associate Athletic Trainer.
“I am excited for Melissa to be joining our team and for her to come back to the Space Coast where she grew up.” Said Velez. “Her professional background as an athletic trainer will bring another perspective that will further round out our sports medicine staff.”
Wieand comes to Florida Tech after working for the Green Bay Packers as a Fellow Athletic Trainer since 2023.
“I am very excited about this opportunity at Florida Tech and being back in my hometown community,” said Wieand. “I’m looking forward to working with the talented sports medicine staff and scholar-athletes at Florida Tech in this next journey of my career.”
While working with the Packers, she developed rehabilitation plans that coincided with the team’s weight room program and managed pregame locker room setup during away games. Additionally, she conducted comprehensive weekly inspections on all emergency equipment to ensure functionality and reliability.
Before working in Green Bay, Wieand spent the 2022-2023 season at Florida Atlantic University as an Athletic Training Fellow, where she was with the Owls Football and Track programs.
There, she was the primary source of communication between athletes and physicians, working with hospital schedulers to order imaging and coordinating insurance while supervising student interns.
Earlier that year, she also gained experience working as a training camp intern for the Los Angeles Chargers. She assisted with sweat and hydration testing, maintained inventory, and coordinated pregame equipment for the team’s travel.
In 2021-2022, Wieand attended the University of Connecticut (UCONN) as a graduate student, working with the Recreational Sports teams. Her duties included performing on-field evaluations of injuries while also working with physicians regarding concussion management protocols.
Throughout graduate school, Wieand worked at the Korey Stringer Institute as an Assistant Director of Sports Safety, Westminster School, University of Florida Football Camps, and Valdosta High School.
As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, she worked with the Gators women’s basketball, swim and dive team, and football programs. Other experiences while in school include working with the Philadelphia Flyers during rookie training camp, at Eastside High School, and held a Patrick South End Zone Internship at the University of Florida.
She holds certifications in Basic Life Support (CPR) through the American Heart Association.
Wieand received her Bachelor of Science in athletic training from the University of Florida in May 2020. In 2022, she earned her Master of Science in Kinesiology from UCONN.
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Ahead of the coldest temperatures in years for Central Florida, the National Weather Service has issued a freeze watch for Friday morning.
A freeze watch means temperatures of 32 degrees or lower are possible.
Exterior pipes should be protected in Marion, Sumter and northern Lake counties where temperatures could be below freezing for four to six hours.
Plants sensitive to the cold should be covered or brought inside by Thursday evening.
It’s also a good idea to bring pets inside.
A strong Arctic cold front is expected to arrive Thursday morning. Temperatures top out in the upper 50s and lower 60s early in the day, but are expected to fall for most of the afternoon.
Temperatures will bottom out in the 20s and 30s across Central Florida.
This does not include the wind.
Parts of Central Florida could again dip below freezing Saturday morning.
A reinforcing shot of cold air arrives Sunday which could send parts of Central Florida back below freezing Monday morning.
A big warmup arrives late next work week and into the following weekend.
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A cruise ship that departed Florida has been hit by a norovirus outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported that 94 people fell ill on the Holland America Line cruise ship Rotterdam during its voyage between Dec. 28, 2025, and Jan. 9, 2026.
Those affected by the norovirus outbreak showed the typical symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
The virus, which is highly contagious, is the number 1 cause of foodborne illnesses in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Symptoms appear between 12 and 48 hours after exposure and can include other symptoms like stomach pain, headaches, and fevers.
According to the CDC, 85 passengers out of 2,593 reported being sick. Nine of the 1,005 crew members reported being ill as well.
The CDC said Holland America Line and the Rotterdam crew increased cleaning and disinfection measures and quarantined those who fell ill to prevent the disease from spreading further.
CruiseMapper.com showed that the ship departed Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 28. The cruise line’s website also has several future voyages out of Fort Lauderdale as well.
8 On Your Side has reached out to Holland America for more information on the outbreak.
After a push to nearly the end of the launch window, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off on Florida’s third launch of 2026.
The rocket lifted off at 4:08 p.m. Monday, January 12 from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It had originally been scheduled for earlier in the afternoon, but the launch time was repeatedly pushed back. SpaceX did not give a reason for the change in timing.
The Falcon 9 carried 29 Starlink internet satellites to orbit on the booster’s 25th mission. No sonic booms were heard in Brevard County, as the booster landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Next SpaceX rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
The next Falcon 9 rocket launch from Florida is scheduled for no earlier than 1:01 p.m. Wednesday, January 14 from Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The mission is the next batch of SpaceX Starlink internet satellites, titled Starlink 6-98.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
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